


What Next? Zombies?

by Entwinedlove



Category: Van Helsing (TV 2016)
Genre: Aliens, Alternate Universe - Alien Invasion, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Guy Deaths, Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Van Helsing Season 2 Episode 9 | Wakey Wakey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-01
Packaged: 2020-10-04 10:37:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20469644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Entwinedlove/pseuds/Entwinedlove
Summary: Just when they thought The Rising was bad, something else falls out of the sky and changes everything.





	What Next? Zombies?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertScribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertScribe/gifts).

"Are you sure you don't want any of these?" Julius asked, biting off another chunk of red sugary goodness.

His companion, Doc, made a scoffing sound. "Positive."

He snorted in amusement and said, "Suit yourself."

They were tromping through the woods towards Crooked Falls, whatever that was, and they hadn't seen a vampire since the night before when they had escaped from that police station. Doc still hadn't eaten anything since she had to shoot that guy. Julius was worried about her. She always seemed so down. Then again, he'd only know her since the vampires had taken over, maybe she was more upbeat before the world ended.

"You should slow down on those things; they're going to make you sick," she said, then followed up with a whisper to herself, "Jesus Christ, I'm beginning to sound like my mother."

Julius smiled. Maybe she did have a sense of humor, and he just had to notice it more.

He grinned and took another bite of the candy. "At this rate, we're going to make it to Crooked Falls before dark." He turned his head to look at her, still chewing. One thing he hadn't brought up this morning when he'd been excited over all the new chip flavors he was tasting was that he'd missed the action of chewing. These gummy candy things were giving his jaw a workout it hadn't had in decades. "Do you think Scarlett and Axel are already there?"

"I just hope Scarlett and Axel are still alive."

An angry scream pierced the peaceful late afternoon. Julius recognized it. "I know that scream." He tightened his hands on his rifle as he listened. There was a rustle behind him, and he turned around. Scab, a twitchy man before and after he was turned, was perched on a tree stump looking ready to pounce.

"Scab?" Julius almost wished he knew the guy's real name, maybe he could talk him into letting them go.

Before they could do much else, exchange words or fists, something loud and large came crashing through the tree canopy above them. Branches and chunks of metal were flying every which way. Julius dodged for cover, taking Doc to the ground with him so he could help protect her from all the flying debris. There was a raucous explosion almost on top of them. When it stopped, Julius thought maybe it had damaged his hearing, as there was a low humming.

Doc jabbed him in the shoulder to get him to move. She crawled out from under him and scrambled to her feet, rifle clutched tight in her hands, unhesitant now. "Oh, shit," she muttered. Her eyes had grown wide as she stared at where Scab had been perched.

Julius rolled up and clamored to his feet, grabbing for his rifle even as his brain tried to process what it was his eyes were seeing. There was a round disk-like object, about the size of an automobile and made of dark metals right where the tree stump had been. There was a bit of blood splattered on the crunchy fall leaves underneath the thing.

"Poor Scab," he mumbled.

Doc side-eyed him and readjusted her hands on her weapon, bouncing her eyebrows and darting her gaze back at the thing. The round, unidentifiable thing. Object. That had been flying. Or crashing... or something.

"Is that a UFO?" he asked dumbly. Maybe they'd made contact with aliens while he'd been a vamp. He thought that might have been something he would have noticed, but he'd missed a lot of other things so it might have been possible. He wasn't discounting anything.

"Uh, maybe?" Doc answered. To herself, she mumbled, "What next? Zombies?"

Julius wasn't sure what Voodoo cults had to do with anything and looked at her to ask. Beyond her, he saw Dmitri. He, too, was watching the spaceship with fascination.

A hatch began to open, splitting the upper and lower domes. Brilliant green light spilled out, illuminating Doc and Dmitri in a sickly hue. Something was moving in the light, casting shadows, and Julius squinted to try to see further into the ship. An oddly-shaped thing, pale and wobbly and reminiscent of something that would have been found caught in an ocean net, swayed into the doorway. Julius had never seen an octopus but he'd seen a drawing once, and this thing looked sort of like that. Giant saucer eyes set in a large bulbous head. Rubbery-looking, translucent skin. Multiple snake-like arms. It stood on three of the limbs and lingered in the opening of the ship. It turned its head, looking at each of them. After a moment, it made a creepy warbly sound, almost like the guttural sound of vampires calling to one another.

It twisted on its limbs, and then one of the many arms that it wasn't using for legs reached up and tapped something behind it on the ship. Static coughed out of the mechanism it tapped, and when the creature warbled again, the mechanism translated what it said into a stiff, robotic voice.

"Where is your leader?"

Julius remembered this sort of thing from the pulp novels he'd read when he was a teenager. None of the aliens in the drawings ever looked like this thing though. Most of the drawings featured little green men with big heads. And hands. Not... tentacles. He glanced at Doc, and she minutely shook her head. Apparently, she wasn't going to claim the title of leader.

Before he could even think of taking charge of the situation, somehow, Dmitri spoke up, grandiose as always. "I am their leader. This is my domain."

The alien turned on its limbs and peered at Dmitri. It bobbed it's large head and moved closer. The further out of the ship's hatch it came, the more the translucent quality of its skin started to change. It turned mottled like the browns and greens of the forest around them. With one long tentacle, it reached out and touched Dmitri on the cheek.

Dmitri stood tall, seemingly unafraid. His upper lip even curled in disgust.

There was another warble, and the robotic voice said, "You... you are a parasite." Without a second to even truly process what it had said, it reached up and wrapped that tentacle around Dmitri's neck, squeezing tightly. The vampire squirmed in its grasp. The tentacle lifted him off the ground by that connection around his throat. He started to flail and twist, all the while gasping for breath.

Julius blinked at the sudden violence, but Doc was already moving. "Come on!" she shouted over her shoulder. He didn't have to be told twice, and he turned and ran after her. They kept at full tilt for longer than either realized they were capable. When they finally slowed to a stop, panting and putting their back against a large tree, Doc turned and looked at him.

"Do you think Van Helsings are any good against aliens?" he asked, getting his words out before whatever she might say. He supposed she was probably going to ask him the same thing.

There was a noisy crash in the distance and an eerily loud warble ahead of them.

"Let's hope so," she answered. She shook her head in disbelief. "Damn apocalypse."


End file.
